Leah's 38th birthday

The drizzle let up today and a few of Leah's cousins and I went to the beautiful stone bench located on the forest trail near her house, on her 38th birthday...

However, you don't need to venture into the woods to see a lovely memorial for Leah, many homes in her neighborhood still feature her cancer warrior magnets and were recently refreshed with new ones! Celine, Leah's amazing neighbor and friend, who we also have to thank for the bench, found a left over box of magnets and organized Elly, Drew, and some of their neighborhood friends to replace the weathered ones for shiny new! On mailboxes and even a garage door or two, these continue to pepper the neighborhood as a reminder of Leah's strong warrior spirit. Leah's inspiration for the design and her inspiration to all of us, is best explained by her post from MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2014, titled Warriors...

I'm reading a new book and I'd like to share some excerpts from it over the next few postings.  The book is called, Comfortable with uncertainty. The book talks about what a warrior is and I liked this part:

 A warrior accepts that we can never know what will happen to us next. We can try to control the uncontrollable by looking for security and predictability, always hoping to be comfortable and safe.  But the truth is that we can never avoid uncertainty.  This not-knowing is part of the adventure.  It is also what makes us afraid.  

I have to agree that the not knowing is very scary and makes me afraid.  And I have to say the adventure I have is not one I would have chosen but it is what I was given.  I try every day to learn to accept it and accept that I cannot change it.  I can only change how I chose to handle what I was given.  A lot of people have used the word Grace when describing how I handle my cancer, I kind of like that.  I certainly try to have grace and acceptance and I think that's what warriors need. -Leah Ploutz